How close did Democrats come to losing the Senate seat from West Virginia? Close enough to take a lecture from incumbent Joe Manchin, who reluctantly committed to running for another term in November only yesterday. The New York Times reveals Manchin’s surprising holdout, as well as his blunt assessment of the Senate and Democrats’ sharp left turn:

Of course it will, Joe. More than 80 percent of Americans will get a tax cut next year under the new law, with nearly as many taxpayers enjoying relief through at least 2026 (and very likely beyond). Of the plan's tiny handful of 'losers' (less than five percent), most are high-income earners living in high-tax states who itemize their deductions -- as opposed to taking the now-doubled standard deduction, as 70 percent of filers currently do (a number that will grow). It...doesn't sound like many West Virginians fit that profile. Manchin knew all of this, of course, but he voted...

West Virginia Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Patrick Morrisey spoke with Breitbart News Daily SiriusXM host Alex Marlow on Friday regarding his campaign, including his recent endorsement by pro-President Trump Super PAC Great America Alliance. Morrisey also discussed his tenure as attorney general, saying, “The reason I want to run for Senate is Washington is utterly broken.” He also talked about his record of going after the Obama administration for what he called “stupid regulations.” “We can start to clean up these terribly burdensome regulations. We can make the tax code much simpler, much flatter, so that it works...

*** Following an exclusive interview with Bossie on Thursday, Breitbart News reported: “We support Patrick Morrisey for Senate because he has a proven record of results fighting for conservative West Virginia values and against the harmful liberal agenda of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton,” Bossie added. “Attorney General Morrisey was there to take on executive overreach at the Obama Environmental Protection Agency for the coal miners and he’s been there to support President Trump’s agenda taking on sanctuary cities and pushing for much needed tax reform. I look forward to working with Patrick Morrisey to enact President Trump’s conservative agenda...

Being from West Virginia, Rep. Manchin has had to push back against the coastal Democratic machine from time to time, but this round, the Dems may have gone too far and might be losing one of their Representatives to the Republican side. We’ve already seen that the Governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, was willing to switch to the Republican side of the aisle, making his announcement at a Trump rally. Now, it’s looking like Rep. Joe Manchin might do the same. Democrats have already lost the state, both in terms of their wide support for Trump and the loss...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice, who switched parties to become a Republican in early August, told a crowd of Republican lawmakers this week that he supports Democratic Senator Joe Manchin’s re-election to the U.S. Senate. Manchin, a former governor who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2010, is in what most political observers consider to be a hotly-contested election in 2018. Congressman Evan Jenkins and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey are running in the Republican primary. Governor Justice was speaking to Republicans on Monday evening at the state Culture Center. He addressed his desire to pass a multi-million...

It’s a remarkable quirk of our federal republic that U.S. policy often hinges on local races. Regional personalities and issues, emerging from places coastal elites have never visited, will play a significant role in next year’s midterm elections—most crucially, the battle for the U.S. Senate. At stake is not just which party controls the upper chamber—the rough number of blues versus reds—but how faithful senators will be to their governing philosophies. As the dust settles from 2018, will Washington be more conservative? More liberal? More functional? Local politics will determine many of these answers. In tiny Harpers Ferry, West Virginia,...

White House and Republican officials are looking at Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., as a candidate to take the top spot at the Energy Department, as a plan is being looked at moving Secretary Rick Perry to lead the Homeland Security Department.

In no uncertain terms, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said he isn't going to toe the party line on every policy issue, just because he's up for re-election. "I don't give a sh*t, you understand? I just don't give a sh*t," he told the Charleston Gazette-Mail Sunday. "Don't care if I get elected, don't care if I get defeated, how about that. If they think because I'm up for election, that I can be wrangled into voting for sh*t that I don't like and can't explain, they're all crazy." He continued: "I'm not scared of an election, let's put it that...

Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia, a Democrat who was elected last year even as President Trump carried the state by 42 points, is expected to announce Thursday night at a rally with Mr. Trump that he is changing parties, according to three sources familiar with the plans. Speaking to reporters in the White House Thursday, Mr. Trump promised “a very big announcement” at a gathering in Huntington, W.V., that is expected to draw thousands of supporters from across Appalachia, a region that gave Mr. Trump some of the largest margins of his election. Mr. Justice, a billionaire coal and...

I have spent my life public service and public policy fighting for conservative ideals. Limited government, free-market policies, traditional values, American exceptionalism – these are the issues that gave rise to the Reagan Revolution and the modern day Republican Party. Over the past 30-plus years since Ronald Reagan urged America to partake in a “rendezvous with destiny,” these principles have come under attack – not just from the liberals, but from within our own party. We have watched Republicans talk about reining in government on the campaign trail, only to become part of the problem the minute they are sworn...

After years of fights with the Obama administration and the EPA, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is well positioned to take down Senator Joe Manchin in 2018. About a year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily halted implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, and though the court didn’t know it at the time, this probably killed off the plan for good. [snip] If and when the Clean Power Plan is cast aside, it will be a major victory for Patrick Morrisey, currently the attorney general of West Virginia, chairman of the Republican Attorney Generals Association, and a strong...

Sen. Joe Manchin – who has claimed in the past to be pro-life – appears now to be supporting abortion industry giant Planned Parenthood. The West Virginia Democrat appeared in a photo, tweeted by Planned Parenthood South Atlantic West Virginia, standing behind a poster that states, “I stand with Planned Parenthood.” The tweet immediately drew the ire of national pro-life leaders who in the past have counted Manchin among members of Congress who support the rights of the unborn. “Sen. Manchin used to call himself pro-life, but this is the last straw,” said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser,...

Senators Joe Manchin and Heidi Heitkamp on Thursday became the first Democrats to support the confirmation of President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, giving Republicans two of eight Democratic votes needed to avoid a nasty fight on the U.S. Senate floor next week. Both West Virginia's Manchin and North Dakota's Heitkamp are up for re-election next year in states that voted for Trump in the 2016 presidential election. "I hold no illusions that I will agree with every decision Judge Gorsuch may issue in the future, but I have not found any reasons why this jurist should not...

Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) announced Thursday that he will back Judge Neil Gorsuch, becoming the first Senate Democrat to throw their support behind President Trump's Supreme Court nominee. "I will vote to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch to be the ninth justice on the Supreme Court," Manchin tweeted. Thirty-three Senate Democrats have come out against Gorsuch's nomination, according to The Hill's Whip List , with Republicans signaling that they are willing to change Senate rules to confirm him with a simple majority if eight Democrats don't back him. — This breaking news report will be updated.

Vice President Pence sought Saturday to pressure Sen. Joe Manchin to support President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, singling out the Democratic senator during a speech in his home state of West Virginia. "Let me say this to you West Virginia, if we can get the help of Sen. Joe Manchin, and with the help of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito [R], Judge Neil Gorsuch will soon become Justice Neil Gorsuch," Pence said during his speech at a construction supply depot.

Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) is looking at a Canadian style single payer system. It’s the second time in a month that Manchin has told constituents that he’s looking at a Medicare for all system to replace an unraveling Obamneycare. Manchin has been clear that he will vote against the emerging Trumpcare/Ryancare that will balloon the ranks of the uninsured from 30 million under Obamneycare to 50 million. A single payer system would leave zero people uninsured. Under single payer, every citizen gets a birth certificate and a Medicare card at birth. The United States pays per capita more than...

After his speech Tuesday night, President Trump gave Sen. Joe Manchin a bro handshake and a bro hug. Now almost a quarter million liberals want Sen. Chuck Schumer to give the West Virginia Democrat the boot. On Thursday dozens of activists plan to deliver 225,000 petitions to Schumer's office, asking the minority leader to kick the "Trump-apologist Joe Manchin from Senate Democratic Leadership."

Manchin tells CNN that meetings between senators and ambassadors are routine As Democrats, some in the media, and even a handful of GOP lawmakers call on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from some Justice Department investigations, a Democratic senator defended him Thursday from allegations that he met improperly with the Russian ambassador before last year’s election. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said it is not unusual for senators to meet with ambassadors. “I’ve met with the Russian ambassador with group in my capacity, with a group of other senators; yes, that happens,” he told CNN. “We meet with all...

Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) told CNN's Alisyn Camerota on Thursday that he has met with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. because senators try to meet with all ambassadors to forge relationships with them. Camerota asked Manchin if he has met Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. "Have you met with the Russian ambassador in your capacity?" she asked. Manchin said that he not only met with the ambassador, but did so with a group of senators. "I have," Manchin said. "I have met with the Russian ambassador with a group in my capacity, with a group of other senators." {..snip..}